


Tony Stark is Dead

by itsedgzoi



Category: Avengers (Comics), Captain America (Comics), Hawkeye (Comics), Iron Man (Comic), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Death, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2018-01-03 23:28:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1074309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsedgzoi/pseuds/itsedgzoi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark has died in a mysterious explosion, and Steve Rogers reflects on his relationship with his close friend and comrade.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tony Stark is Dead

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't really written anything in about six months, so don't expect any kind of greatness.

Steve didn't know exactly what had happened, but he understand the impact. Tony Stark had been working on one of his Iron Man suits, trying to figure out some way to squeeze a little bit more power out of it. Something had gone majorly wrong, nobody knew what, but according to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s official report something in Stark's lab exploded at exactly 7:37:31 in the morning. Steve had gotten the news barely five minutes later, and he was on a jet to what was left of Tony's west-coast estate as quickly as was humanly possible. 

He didn't want to wait for the quinjet to land, so he parachuted out so that he could be at the scene that much quicker. After an expertly executed landing, Steve looked around, thinking that he had missed his target. When he realized that this huge blackened crater in the ground was all that was left of Tony's once proud mansion, he fell to his knees. He had heard that everything had been destroyed, but to see this scene of destruction made it real. It might seem odd that Steve was so devastated- after all, he had seen far more traumatic things in his long life than most people ever would, from the brutality of the fire bombings in Germany over seventy years ago, to the death and destruction that villains like Loki and Dr. Doom tending to leave. But this was far more personal than any of those horrific memories. He saw, right before his eyes, nearly absolute proof that his closest friend was gone. There wasn't much left of the mansion, but the smoldering ruins were a vivid reminder of the man who had designed it, as well as all of the technology that made it run. 

The face of Tony Stark had been the first thing that Steve had seen when he had been thawed out of the ice, he wasn't even sure how long ago that had been. The man he had seen when he was revived had been obviously stressed, but still very thoughtful. But the main thing that had struck Steve, once he could think coherently, was the determination that lay on Tony's face. The man was determined that he would bring the world-famous Captain America back to life, and he didn't give a damn that no one else believed that it was possible. Thinking back to that time, Steve remembered how terrified he had been as he writhed with the pain of the ice crystals in his flesh melted. Tony had been an almost ubiquitous presence, but not altogether a caring one. Steve had been more of an experiment for Tony, but once they got to know each other they quickly grew very close.

The two of them had had a few sexual encounters over the years, but their relationship had always been far deeper than that. They had the bond of two men who routinely depended on the other, knowing that if the one of them messed something up then both of them would die. Together they had faced all sorts of threats- from terrorists to dictators to magicians to aliens and even gods. 

They had clashed against each other during the Civil War, and every day that the conflict went on had killed Steve, figuratively speaking. Although no newspaper ever reported this, the way that Steve saw the Civil War was two men who cared deeply for each other, but who thought that they cared for their respective causes more. As the fight started drew to a close, Steve had more or less died, this time seemingly literally.

Steve snapped back to the present when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He wiped away the few tears that had formed without him realizing it as inconspicuously as he could as he stood up, and he turned around to find himself face-to-face with a somber Hawkeye. "This sure looks bad, I bet it was Doom. Or it could be the Mandarin, he never liked Tony much. The S.H.I.E.L.D. guys are saying that it was probably an accident, but I know-" Clint started, but he cut himself off when Steve wearily held a hand up.

"With all due respect, Clint, could you please shut up," Steve said, grateful that the archer didn't seem to notice how emotional he had been getting.

"Sorry Cap, I wanted to leave you to yourself, but Maria Hill wanted me to get you. S.H.I.E.L.D. set up a tent a bit over that way, and they have some things they wanted you to take a look at," Hawkeye said, pointing to a large white tent that had armed guards around it.

The two Avengers walked over in silence, with Clint acutely aware of how Steve was feeling, but he had no idea what he was supposed to say or do to help his friend out, so he remained quiet and kept to himself, although his mind raced. He had also been a good friend of Tony's but he had been nowhere as close to the engineer as Steve had been. 

Clint's train of thought was cut off when they reached the entrance to the tent. "Mornin' Commander Rogers, and er- Mr. Barton," a man wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform and carrying an assault rifle that had probably been designed by the man who had died just hours ago. "My name's Colonel Warren Shay, and I'm supposed to you gentlemen something that we found out there just a bit before you get here," the colonel said. Steve decided that the man didn't seem sad enough, but he told himself that the soldier either hadn't fully realized what had happened yet, or maybe it was just a practiced professional front that he put up.

As the two Avengers followed the colonel through the sterile white tent, Steve reflected on how odd it was that it was set up on the ground where Tony's mansion had once stood. There were very few things that were sterile or clean about Tony. Steve had hardly ever seen the man without grease, blood or a combination of both on his face, and Steve thought that he looked out of his element when Pepper cleaned him up for social events.

"Alright, are ya'll ready," the Cl. Shay asked the two of them, but didn't wait for an answer. He went over to a table that had some object, about the size of a basketball, covered in a white cloth. "Here it is," Shay said, pulling the cloth back. Clint involuntarily gasped, and Steve took a step back when they saw what lay on the white table.

Steve stared at the crushed object, and one of Tony Stark's eyes seemed to stare back. He surveyed the rest of his friend's removed head. It was in the helmet of one of the Iron Man armors, which was presumably how it had survived at all, but the left side of his face was mostly caved in. At this point, both Hawkeye and Captain America were sure, beyond reasonable doubt, that their comrade and friend was dead. "Clint, we are going to find out how the hell this happened, if it's the last thing I ever do. And I swear to God, whoever did this is going to be wishing that they never messed with Tony"

**Author's Note:**

> And, that's that. I'm probably going to make some kind of sequel to this, which is why Cap made his promise/threat at the end. Make sure you comment so I know how bad it was, and so I can make whatever I write next better.


End file.
